33 Weeks: Time is Spinning So Fast

What a week!! Spinning is the theme for sure. Thankfully I work in a much better environment than our work was 2 years ago, so it was much more manageable for me. The problem? My Meniere's Disease. I started off my week actually falling down at home while getting ready for work. I almost fell twice in the shower but fortunately was able to grab onto the walls and hold myself up. The last thing I wanted was to fall in there and have my mom come get me for work and fine me naked in a shower! The dizziness was at its worst in the 12 years I've been dealing with Meniere's Disease. I couldn't even move my head without having everything swirling around me and almost falling. A positive was that I had a doctor's appointment.

Was the lightheaded feeling from Meniere's or the baby?? This was all that was on my mind after the fall. I knew she was okay because when I went down I was able to turn myself and land on my side. I went down rather gently although from the cat's reaction you'd think I was a huge giant falling down onto some Fraggles or something! So, I was at the doctor. First up was the ultrasound that my mom was able to join us for. That little baby was quite a stinker and refused to show us her face. Instead she showed off how she could fold in half and put her feet and legs in front of that little face. Dang it! But the good news was that she is measuring exactly what she should for this point. She (as of Tuesday the 29th) was coming in at 4.4 pounds. And oh my how big did that head look now compared to when we saw her last??? Ay carumba! 

After the ultrasound Man Friend and I met with my OBGYN. Our girl's heart was sounding great as normal and still we had no real issues to worry about. The doctor said it was totally normal that I haven't been noticing any of these Braxton-Hicks contractions people keep talking about. I figure that's a win for me! Mostly we discussed my fall. I elaborated on what happened and what I have been experiencing and she eased my mind by telling me this sounds like it is my Meniere's Disease and I don't need to worry about the baby. She does want me to NOT fall anymore, ha! and offered up the suggestion of trying out compression socks to help my blood circulation and maybe reduce the lightheaded feelings.  Being a runner, this was an easy thing to do - and I LOVED putting my compression socks back on again! Since then, and trying to rest and relax, I've had a slight improvement, so yay for that. 

Her bassinet arrived this week and we were able to put it together. Millicent (my youngest cat that is my nurse and constant shadow) has already inspected it, but surprising not gotten in ... yet! Good girl!

My stress level has reached maximum capacity. Maximum to the point where I've had to go be alone to cry and take a long, quiet shower to just ignore everything. Adding to the misery of Meniere's Disease this week, I'm just overwhelmed. I think as time gets closer everybody wants to "help" with good intentions, but it's just a lot to take at times. We all have our own opinions on how things should be, but we are all different. Every pregnancy is different. Heck, even my mom and I have pretty much completely opposite pregnancies from each other! So while one idea might have worked well for one person, it might not be what someone else would agree with. Like what? To name some issues that I see coming up a lot in baby world are: 

breast feeding, strollers, crib bumpers, Lamaze, at home birth, hospital births, epidurals, water births, medications during pregnancy, episiotomies, hospital delivery gowns, walking around during labor, visitors at the hospital, coaches in the delivery room, diaper styles, bassinets, pacifiers, laundry detergent, baby clothes ... 

seriously, you name it and there are debates and opinions. The beauty of life is we are all allowed to have our own ideas and opinions. I guess as a very soon-to-be new mom I can only hope that my chosen options will be respected. Because of these often noted debates I've chosen to keep very quiet about a lot of what Man Friend and I have decided regarding the hospital experience and life with a newborn. It's not even only generations differing, although I see many differences between those my age and our parent's era, which is to be expected. I mean things change. New things are developed, new studies are done and safety things learned. What worked back in the 70s may have worked, but there might be better choices available now. Why not take advantage? (I can promise you my little girl won't be using a cardboard box as a car seat like my grandparents did with me!) This week we (the father and I) have done a lot of discussing and I have been doing a lot of reading, coming up with what we think will work best for US. I have been trying to listen to everybody and their advice to keep an open mind and learn from experiences, but by the end of this week it was all swarming around and spinning in my head and feeling like loud noise. Too much stimuli!! So we do have our plans worked out of how things will be and it will probably stay between us until we have to tell anybody -- which really would only need to be her grandparents or those that will see her often.

So that's been this crazy, yet quiet week. A lot of sleeping on the couch versus my bed. A lot of trips to the bathroom. A lot of stress. *FB world could probably notice when I'm stressed because I go silent. What? ME? Silent?? But also a lot of excitement... after all, I get to see her NEXT MONTH!!!

DECEMBER 2015
Sunday		Monday		Tuesday		Wednesday		Thursday		Friday		Saturday
				1		2		3		4		5
												29 Weeks
6		7		8		9		10		11		12
				OBGYN - TDAP								30 Weeks
13		14		15		16		17		18		19
												31 Weeks
20		21		22		23		24		25		26
												32 Weeks
27		28		29		30		31
				OBGYN
				+Ultrasound

JANUARY 2016
Sunday		Monday		Tuesday		Wednesday		Thursday		Friday		Saturday
										1		2
												33 Weeks
3		4		5		6		7		8		9
				Lamaze Class						Baby Shower		34 Weeks
10		11		12		13		14		15		16
				Lamaze Class		OBGYN						35 Weeks
17		18		19		20		21		22		23
				Lamaze Class								36 Weeks
24		25		26		27		28		29		30
Babies R Us				Lamaze Class								37 Weeks